GE Form-109
The 'GE Form-109 '''is a large, full-size street light fixture that was manufactured and produced by General Electric from 1948 to 1955. It was the first widely distributed line of streetlights to use Mercury-Vapor technology, when it was only relatively recently popular. During the time of it's original release, the Form-109 was an instant hit for General Electric. Large cities bought hundreds of Form-109 fixtures in bulk, eager to phase out incandescent street lighting for a technology that was at it's time considered a breakthrough in street lighting. By the mid-1950s, the Form-109 was the most common street lighting fixture in large American cities, due to the long lifetime and reasonable price. History Mercury-Vapor discharge lighting had been experimented with by scientists since the late 1800's. In 1901, the first successful mercury-vapor lamp was invented by American engineer Peter Cooper Hewitt, which he also filed a patent for. However, despite these advancements, mercury-vapor failed to receive the mainstream public's attention. In the 1940s, efforts to make mercury-vapor lighting mainstream were met with success when General Electric designed a new fixture that used mercury-vapor lighting. This fixture was quite unlike anything that the world had seen before. It was named the Form-109 and succeeded the Form-175, an older fixture that used incandescent technology. The fixture was full-size, which came with it's own pole and mast. It was released in 1948, finally pushing mercury-vapor technology into mainstream territory. Immediately, the Form-109 became popular, due to the use of mercury-vapor technology, which shone much brighter than incandescent light bulbs and lasted much longer. However, despite this, many citizens of towns and cities opposed to mercury-vapor lighting, due to the glow of the light, which shone a color that ranged from shades of green to blue. This was criticized, as it was cited by many as being visually unappealing to the eye. However, despite criticism, the Form-109, which used mercury-vapor, became a new favorite fixture for large and medium cities. Such cities began buying Form-109 fixtures in bulk, with hundreds of loads daily. This led to the Form-109 becoming the most common fixture in the United States ; virtually every downtown of a major of mid size city could be found with Form-109 fixtures in the 1950s and 1960s. Later, the Form-109 was exported into other North American countries ( most notably Canada ) where it was also used, but to a lesser extent. Discontinuation and Decline In 1955, the GE Form-109 permanently stopped production and was discontinued. However, they could still be purchased for a good deal of time afterwards. Many cities continued to use the fixture, and new fixtures were sometimes purchased. However, the Form-109 would soon face a decline. In 1957, the first "cobrahead" streetlight was introduced. The fixture was manufactured by Westinghouse, and named the ''OV-25. Like the Form-109, it quickly became popular. One of the reasons for it's popularity was the design. The cobrahead streetlight had not been seen before, and it was a new aesthetic that most cities would be willing to use for a change. The OV-25 surpassed the Form-109 in demand, causing the latter to decline in popularity. The OV-25 has aged far better when compared to the Form-109. Today, the Form-109 is particularly rare. It is now very uncommon to find one. Nearly all of them have been replaced with newer fixtures, mostly cobra-heads. Despite this, the Form-109 remains popular in undeveloped countries, due to the fact that it is cheap to purchase and import used fixtures. Gallery Category:General Electric Category:Full-Size Fixtures Category:Large Fixtures Category:Mercury-Vapor Category:Incandescent Category:1940s Category:Gumdrop Fixtures